Dancer
The Dancer ( ) is a support class that appears recurrently across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Mystery of the Emblem. Profile Traditionally a female-exclusive class, the Dancer possesses the unique ability to utilize the Dance command on an allied unit who has taken an action that turn. Their Dance revitalizes the unit, allowing them another full turn of movement and action. However, dancers cannot reinvigorate other dancers. The given explanation, according to Heroes, is that this was attempted by a pair of goddesses who continued the cycle of rejuvenation for a hundred years and both expired at the same time in the morning of the 101st. Dancers are not typically known for their combat ability, with some unable to attack under any circumstance such as Larum or Tethys. If they do have combat abilities, they tend to gravitate towards Swords. Their overall offensive prowess is often low, relying on Speed and Skill to perform double attacks and perform critical hits, but often offset by low Strength and general frailty in the defensive categories. Dancers are generally player-exclusive, only being encountered as enemy units in various chapters of Thracia 776 or when fighting another player's team in Awakening. Male equivalents are normally other classes, such as the Bard class. Fire Emblem: Three Houses introduced the option to have male dancers for the first time in the franchise's history. While other unit classes have the same ability to refresh units through similar, yet differently named commands, "Dancer" is often utilized as an umbrella term for all units with ability by fans of the franchise. Examples of other Dancer-like classes include the Heron Laguz of the Tellius, the Bard class used by certain male units, and Azura's Songstress class from Fire Emblem Fates. Anew serves a similar purpose to Dance, though it has limited uses and can be used by a Staff wielding class by a unit with a high enough Weapon Level. History in the Series In its original inception in Mystery of the Emblem, the Dancer class is granted the ability to engage in combat with Swords alongside supporting their allies through invigorating dances. Unable to promote, Dancers are simply permitted to gain a maximum level of 30. The Dancer ( ) class appears in Genealogy of the Holy War as classes of only Sylvia, her daughter Lene, and her substitute Laylea. In Thracia 776, the Dancer class can only be accessed by the player by having Lara, a female character who starts as a Thief, trigger an event in Chapter 12x. Able to trigger the event even as a Thief Fighter, Lara is also, oddly enough, able to promote into the aforementioned class as a Dancer. This title functions as the only one in the series within which Dancers emerge as enemy units. In The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade, Bards are instated as the male variant of the Dancer class. They fulfill the same role as their female counterparts through music performed with either the harp in The Binding Blade and the flute in The Blazing Blade. In The Blazing Blade, the Dancer class, alongside its male counterpart, can perform special dances with the aid of rings to bless their allies with additional bonuses that improve their combat prowess for the duration of one turn. Four of such rings exist in the game; Ninis' Grace increases Defense and Resistance, Filla's Might increases Attack by 10, Thor's Ire increases Critical hit chance by 10% and Set's Litany increases Avoid by 10. In Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, the Dancer class is replaced by the Heron Laguz, who refresh their allies' expended turns through the power of Galdrar. In Radiant Dawn, Galdrar, much like the special rings in The Blazing Blade, possesses different variations that improve allies' combat prowess. In Awakening, the Special Dance skill that Dancers learn imbues their dances with the ability to simultaneously refresh a selected ally unit and boost their combat prowess for one turn. In Fates, the Dancer class is replaced by the Songstress class. The unique class of Azura, the Songstress class fulfills the same purpose of the Dancer class through vocalized song. The Songstress class similarly learns a skill that imbues its songs with the ability to both reinvigorate and boost an ally unit's combat effectiveness. In Three Houses, the Dancer class is not unique to any specific character, but only one character can have access to the Dancer class during a given playthrough. The class has proficiency in Swords and Authority, and can also use Reason and Faith magic. This is also the first game in which males can be Dancers. The class is unlocked after a student chosen by the player wins the White Heron Cup over contestants from the other houses. To win the contest, the selected student must have at least 13 Charm before the third week of the Ethereal Moon. Before then, the chosen student can also practice their dancing, permanently raising their Charm by 5. In Fire Emblem Warriors, the Dancer class appears as the base class for Olivia. The class retains the ability to use swords and can dance (which restores her allies Warrior Gauges) with her Strong I attack, which scales on how full her gauge is. Unlike her Awakening version (and something no Dancer has done so far), Olivia's Dancer class can promote into the Prima class. Overview Combat Overall, Dancers tend to lack any sort of offensive presence in battle with generally low base stats across the board, alongside subpar offensive and defensive stat growths. Some dancers, such as Ninian from The Blazing Blade, are unable to equip any weapon for self-defense. To compensate for this, Dancers are blessed with high Speed and Luck growths, both of which contribute immensely to their superb evasion. Their decent HP growth also helps ensure their survivability on the battlefield, allowing them to sustain a sizeable amount of damage before running the risk of being felled. Due to their high Speed, armed Dancers can thus perform double and critical attacks quite frequently if used offensively, although they will need Energy Drops and other strength-boosting items to be optimal for combat purposes. To make up for their general offensive shortcomings, the Dancer's unique Dance ability allows them to reinvigorate allied units who have expended their turn to perform a second turn of action in the same Player Phase. This allows them to give the more offensively capable units a chance to launch more attacks and further weaken the strength of enemy forces. In some titles, Dancer units are further able to bestow bonuses to the units whom they perform dances for, such as Ninian, who can utilize specially-crafted rings like Thor's Ire to boost her allies' combat effectiveness. In-Game Base Stats C |fe5=14*0*0*0*2*0*0*-*6*3*-* E |fe6=14*1*-*2*7*0*0*1*5*4*-*- |fe7=14*1*-*2*7*0*0*1*5*4*-*- |fe8=14*1*-*2*7*0*0*1*5*4*-*- |fe12=16*1*0*1*8*0*3*0*6*-*-* E |fe13=16*1*1*5*8*0*3*1*5*-*-* E |fe16=0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*6*-*-*- |few=53*4*3*9*10*10*4*6*5*-*-* E }} Maximum Stats C |fe5=80*20*20*20*20*20*20*-*20*20*-* A |fe6=60*20*-*20*20*30*20*20*15*20*-*- |fe7=60*10*-*10*20*30*24*26*15*20*-*- |fe8=60*10*-*10*30*30*24*26*15*20*-*- |fe12=60*20*20*25*25*30*20*20*6*-*-* A |fe13=80*30*30*40*40*45*30*30*5*-*-* A }} Growth Rates Class Skills Promotion Notable Dancers ''Mystery of the Emblem/''New Mystery of the Emblem *Phina - A bubbly, mischievous dancer who joins Marth's army after being saved by Navarre. ''Genealogy of the Holy War *Sylvia - A cheerful, flirtatious dancer who is smitten with Lewyn. *Lene - Daughter of Sylvia and the older sister of Coirpre, a vulnerable dancer who hides her emotional anguish with an exterior of bubbly carefreeness. *Laylea - Substitute character of Lene and older sister of Charlot. Thracia 776 *Promotion for: Lara The Binding Blade *Larum - A boisterous, loud and juvenile dancer from the Western Isles. The Blazing Blade *Ninian - A quiet, somber dancer who exudes an aura of tragedy and is the older sister of Nils. The Sacred Stones *Tethys - A beautiful, charming member of Gerik's Mercenaries who hails from Jehanna and is the older sister of Ewan. Awakening *Olivia - A shy, insecure dancer who is loyal to Basilio. Trivia *In ''Awakening, Dancers boast equal Defense and Resistance, a trait shared with Villagers/Merchants, Lords, female Great Lords, Tacticians, Grandmasters, Cavaliers, Paladins, Manaketes and Grima's personal class. Additionally, they boast equal Strength and Magic, a trait shared by Tacticians, Grandmasters, and Villagers/Merchants. See also *Bard - The male counterpart to the Dancer class. *Heron - The Laguz counterpart to the Dancer class. *Songstress - The replacement for the Dancer class in Fates. Gallery File:Dance f.gif|Concept artwork of the Dancer class from Genealogy of the Holy War. File:Dancer.jpg|Concept artwork of the Dancer class from Awakening. 3H Dancer concept.png|Concept artwork of the Dancer class from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. File:DancerTCG.png|Official artwork of the Dancer class from the TCG. File:DancerTCG.jpg|A Level 1 generic Dancer, as she appears in the first series of the TCG. File:DancerTCG2.jpg|A Level 10 generic Dancer, as she appears in the fifth series of the TCG. File:Dancer.png|A generic dancer in Thracia 776. File:Dancer TS unused portrait.png|Unused Dancer portrait from TearRing Saga. File:Plum Dancer.png|Plum's Dancer sprite. File:Ninian dancer ring.gif|Animation of Ninian performing a Dance from The Blazing Blade. File:DancerFE12.png|Phina's dancer sprite from New Mystery of the Emblem. File:FE13 Dancer (Olivia).png|Olivia's battle model as a Dancer from Awakening. Dancer M.PNG|Battle model of a male Dancer from Fire Emblem Three Houses Dancer F.PNG|Battle model of a female Dancer from Fire Emblem Three Houses File:FE3 Dancer Map Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dancer class from Mystery of the Emblem. File:FE4 Dancer Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dancer class from Genealogy of the Holy War. File:Dancer map unused.png|Unused map sprite of the Dancer class from TearRing Saga. File:Dancer-GBA-map.gif|Map sprite of the Dancer class from The Blazing Blade. File:FE8 Dancer Map Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dancer class from The Sacred Stones. File:FE12 Dancer Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dancer class from New Mystery of the Emblem. File:FE13 Olivia Dancer Map Sprite.gif|Map sprite of Olivia as a Dancer from Awakening.